Danielle McGahey meets the ICC eligibility criteria and is set to play for Canada in the Women’s T20 World Cup qualifiers in September; McGahey, 29, has played for her country before but those matches were not recognized as full internationals

Danielle McGahey could become the first transgender cricketer to play in an official international match after being named in Canada’s squad for the Women’s Under-20 World Cup qualifying tournament.

McGahey was selected for September’s four-team qualifier for the Americas, which will see Canada face Brazil, Argentina and the USA, with the winners advancing to the global qualifiers for the 2024 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

Transgender people are prohibited from participating in elite women’s competitions in other sports such as swimming, cycling, athletics, rowing, rugby league and rugby union.

Batter McGahey, 29, however, meets all the eligibility criteria set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for male-to-female transgender players.

What does the ICC say about transgender players?

The ICC’s player eligibility regulations came into effect in 2018 and were amended in 2021 to require a player to “provide a written and signed declaration in a form satisfactory to a designated physician that her gender identity is female”.

The regulations also state that “her serum testosterone concentration has been below 5 nmol/L1 continuously for at least 12 months and that she is ready, willing and able to continue to maintain it below this level. as long as she continues to compete in the women’s category”.

McGahey previously played in four T20 Internationals in October 2022 at the South American Championship where Canada was invited to participate as guests.

Her strike tally did not dip below 100 throughout the tournament, with her most notable innings coming against Brazil when she smashed 73 off 46 balls, hitting nine fours and three sixes.

As these matches did not have official international T20 status, McGahey was able to compete as a transgender woman without having to meet the ICC’s criteria.

If Canada makes it through the regional qualifiers, it will face Ireland, Sri Lanka and seven other teams in the global qualifiers next year.

The top two teams at the end of the global qualifiers will advance to their respective World Cups in September and October 2024.